


Allison Shepard Drabble Collection

by commander_hot_pants



Series: Allison Shepard [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, First Date, First Love, Friendship, Gen, Other, Tags as chapters are posted, Unassosiated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-21 20:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8259716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commander_hot_pants/pseuds/commander_hot_pants
Summary: Various drabbles from my Allison Shepard series. Mostly unconnected from various points in her story, may contain spoilers for Rusted from the Rain, Pins and needles or other Fics of mine.  Really just a place for me to dump my ramblings.





	1. Chapter 1

**2177**

Shepard dumped the pile of paper on Anderson's desk and stood expectantly. His eyes glanced to the papers for a split second, then returned to his computer, the look of fear creeping into his shoulders and eyes.

"What are these?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Anderson was quiet for several seconds before he answered, "Posters."

"And who's on these posters?" He hung his head for a moment and sighed. "I do not like this."

"They want to use you on recruitment posters," He said, shutting down his computer and tenting his fingers on his desk, "with all the publicity from Elysium it's to be expected."

"After Elysium?" Shepard spread one out, disregarding his datapads and pens that she had to push aside. "These don’t even look like me."

"You're on the news, people know you’re a hero."

"A hero?" Shepard scoffed and folded her arms again. Glaring at her image on the poster, so retouched and airbrushed she just barely recognized her own green eyes. She grit her teeth crumpled the paper at the edges. "They know what I had to do. They know what I lost."

"You saved hundreds, thousands of civilians-" Anderson jumped out of his chair as the posters flew across the room, they hit the wall and tumbled to the floor before Shepard even felt the power manifest. She hissed in a breath and dug her finger tips into her temples and half whispered an apology.

"You're having outbursts again?"

"I'm _still_ having outbursts." She corrected through clenched teeth. With a deep breath she dropped into the guest chair across from Anderson.

"Are you still going to therapy?"

"Yeah." She rest her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands.  "Four times a week, doctors got me on this sickening concoction of smoothies twice a day, they're purple." She could barely hear the small chuckle that escaped Anderson. "I'm not authorizing these posters."

She felt the weight and warmth of Anderson’s hands on her shoulders and allowed herself, for just one second, to succumb to the comfort. When she opened her eyes he was kneeling in front of her, the great Commander Anderson was kneeling in front of her. She had never really thought about how strange their friendship was, how out of place, how rare.

"You don’t have to." He wasn’t smiling, but she could tell he was happy. She rested her hand on top of his and she laughed.

"They can put me on posters after I'm fucking dead."


	2. 568  ml

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas Kirkpatrick's first date with Allison Shepard. 2174. Lucas' POV

He was actually surprised when she walked into Ropers at the agreed time. Shepard’s long red hair was in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, wearing slightly too-large fatigues. She wore no makeup and he could see a bruise forming on her cheek bone from their earlier meeting.  He was mesmerized.

Lucas had been mesmerized by her since the moment he spotted her in the gym, that’s why he’d been staring at her, he wasn’t looking for a fight she was just so… indescribable.

“Kirkpatrick.” She greeted curtly as she sat down at the stool across from him.  Most of his dates didn’t start with a military greeting but then again most of them weren’t prefaced with getting the shit beat out of him by the very person he was seeing.

“Shepard.” He smiled. “You can call me Lucas, I didn’t catch your first name earlier.”

“I didn’t give it.” Was her only answer.

“Alright.” He took a deep breath and opened his omni-tool.  "So what kind of beer do you drink?“

“Anything light,” She shrugged, “Or a sour.”

“Would you drink a salarian apricot sour?” She nodded and he plunked the order in. Despite her cold exterior the two of them settled into a comfortable conversation. She was a sentinel class biotic but had just passed the tech part of her training, when he told her he’d failed the tech part of his infiltrator specialization her shoulders pulled back slightly and he began to learn the silent language that was Shepard.

She didn’t smile the entire conversation, he had to study her and observe to read her apathetic expression. Her nose would twitch when she wanted to smile, eyebrows raised when she was interested, mouth would tighten when she felt uncomfortable or nervous. She was subtle but that just made her all the more irresistible.  

God help him, he’d known her for two hours and he was falling in love.

As the first beers drained Shepard looked to her omni and stood.

“Thanks for the beer, Kirkpatrick.” Her nose twitched and her mouth tightened. Easy enough to read.

“You don’t have to go.” He said in an attempt to reassure her. “Stay for one more.” This time she pursed her lips together, it was new and Lucas wasn’t sure how to read it. “You havnt even told me your first name yet.”

“I should go.” She added after a second of hesitation the way she turned her head downwards was new too but it was an easy one. Apprehension.  Not of him specifically though, she liked him or at least it seemed like she liked him by the way her nose twitched after every one of his corny jokes.

If Shepard was torn whether to stay or go, he would just have to tilt the deck in his favor.

“Wait, you cant go yet.” He thrust his arm across the table towards her. “You said you’d have one pint with me.” She nodded, “Well these aren’t pints they’re sleeves. And sleeves are four hundred and twenty-five milliliters, but a pint is five hundred and sixty-eight milliliters. That means you still owe me one hundred and forty-three milliliters.”

She smiled finally, for the first time in the conversation and -fucking hell- it made her green eyes sparkle. It was official, he was addicted to her.

“Alright,”

“That’s it?” He asked before he could stop himself as she sat back down on the bar stool.

“Fairs fair.” She shrugged. “I committed to at least, how many was it, five hundred and eighty-six milliliters?”

“Five hundred and sixty-eight”

“Five hundred and sixty-eight it is then.” She brought up her omni. “Another round, this time on me.”

Their conversation began to ignite, with Shepard now allowing smiles to slip through she was even more radiant than before. He even heard her laugh once, although it was in response to a particularly embarrassing anecdote he told from basic. He was from a family line of marines and he told her about his three older brothers, how at 6'2 he was the runt of the family. He had a younger sister too, Beth, who’d died in service a year ago it wasn’t as hard to talk about her as he had expected.

She told him about her first out of atmosphere shuttle and how she had broken ribs from a street fight, that’s why she was still tender around her side. She barely told him anything about herself except small stories like that. She’d grown up on Earth but having never been to Earth himself he had no idea what any of the city or area names meant so he just nodded along. She was only a Service Chief and there was an awkward silence when they realized he reigned nearly four full ranks above her, having just been promoted to 1st Lieutenant. But it passed quickly and just like that he was captivated by her again.

Shepard was effortless charisma, a quiet and elegant charm that melted Lucas to his very core. He’d never met anyone so magnetic. She talked just like she fought, never missed an opportunity for a cheap shot and always came out on top.

Their second beers drained, much slower than their firsts the conversation having been interrupted with their laughter several times. Eventually they made their way out of the bar and realized they’d be parting separate ways, Shepard to the barracks, Lucas to the officers quarters.

Lucas wasn’t sure how to say good-bye. He thought of every way he’d ever ended a date before, with a hug, with a kiss? He felt there wasn’t a good-bye worthy of her.

“You’re great company,” He finally said, standing further away then he would have liked. Shepard’s body language was pretty clear on how she felt about his physical proximity, “I’d like to do this again.”

She shrugged, looking down at his scuffed boots rather than back up at him.

Even if it wasn’t what the date deserved he found himself fighting every instinct to reach out and touch her- just lightly- even once.  What if she never contacted him again? Ignored his emails? What if this was the only chance he had with her, the only night he’d get to spend in her presence and he blew it without knowing.

Fuck, he was usually so good at this.

“Allison.” She said suddenly, stuffing her hands into her fatigue pockets. “My first name. Allison.” It took him a moment to realized what she was saying.

“Allison…” Lucas warmed at the sound of her name. “Allie.”

“No. Not Allie, Allison.” He threw his hands up in defense as she shot him a glare.

“Alright. Allison.”  Her eyes settled on the center of his chest as she moved forward. Her fingers traced his dog tags through his shirt, up around his neck where she pulled them out and read them a few times.

Suddenly she pulled them in her fist and brought his head towards hers. Lucas heart skipped a beat as she brought him close. Her eyes were a deep green and this close he could see the full extent of the freckles along her nose and cheeks.

“Do you want me to kiss you, Kirkpatrick?” She asked and as she exhaled he could feel her warm breath on his lips.

“Yes,” He whispered after a moment of collecting his thoughts.

“If I don’t, are you going to order me to do it?”

“Never.” Shepard smiled and he could see the way it creased under her eyes. He shivered, he was so fucked.

She did kiss him, slowly. Her lips were soft and she was warm and it took every ounce of well-trained restraint to keep him from wrapping his arms around her and losing himself in her body. She favored his bottom lip, suckling it gently and for just a second he thought the tip of her tongue traced his mouth before she pulled back.

It wasn’t particularly energetic but Lucas still found himself completely out of breath.

“Its too bad,” Shepard whispered, her fingers still entwined with his dog tags, “I don’t date men in the Alliance.”

He exhaled half a laugh, “You’ll just have to skip right to marrying me then.”  Her smile deepened and she pressed another intoxicating kiss to his lips.

“Until next time, Lieutenant Kirkpatrick.” She turned away from him so fast he nearly lost his balance, the absence of her like a black hole sucking him down. As she turned the corner he ran his hands through his hair and pulled tight.

Lucas took several deep breaths to calm himself, pacing the corridor and occasionally leaning against a wall. He had absolutely meant it, if she had agreed he would have married her right there. He had to mentally log every second of their date because he knew with certainty he’d be retelling it to their children.

When he got back to his quarters he wrote her a letter, he didn’t care if he looked desperate. He was.


	3. The SSV Valmy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In 2183 while on board the SSV Normandy Shepard receives a message from an ex-NCO regarding her old crew. She hasnt thought about the crew in a long time and she's not sure the trip down memory lane is welcome but allows it anyway. Some minor RFTR spoilers.

DATE: 14.19.2183

FROM: COMMANDER T. KERR

SUBJECT: FITSROY C.T.S. 

* * *

 

 

Shepards heart sunk, hand falling against her chest as she heaved in a difficult breath. C.T.S. - Chasing the Sun. Lenord Fitsroy was dead. She had served with Fitsroy in 2175 but his bright personality burned so deep into her memory it felt like just a few weeks had passed.

With one more sigh she opened the email.

 

 _"Lenord Fitroy- 10.05.2183. On Altra 7, shot down, Batarians. Three kids- Guess his balls weren't nuked after all. Wife civilian, no service, pot number 45687SH2743-S2-FITS. Found these photos from Rylon, Fitsroy was always such a sap. Riker, Jerett, and Fitsroy-"_  And Kirkpatrick, Shepard added. Kerr never included him, she was of the opinion marines were alive until definitively proven otherwise. Shepard was of the opinion MIA never had a happy ending. _"We're going to have quite a bar tab when we get there, hope you have to pay it."_  

 

She sank into the chair, fingers trembling through her hair. Out of the shore party from the SSV Valmy only her, Kerr, Gorman and Nakara were still alive. She's severed with them for two rotations, it was the last ship she served on before Elysium, before N-School. They'd been a young crew, too young to realize they could actually die.

_"Last one to heaven is a rotten egg," Riker called over her shoulder as she unholstered her shot gun._

_"Last one to heaven has to pay the bar tab." Kirkpatrick amended a moment later. "So make sure to rack it up."_

Shepard took another shaky breath and rolled her eyes to keep them from welling up. Fitsroy had been sentimental, he took photos constantly, sometimes even while under fire. He'd once taken a shot to the shoulder while trying to take a selfie.

_"Its so I can show my kids that their dad was brave." He'd explained in the tiny mess hall, arm still in a sling._

_"Fitsroy, you've near so much radiation your swimmers are probably drowning." Gorman clearly thought this was hilarious but no one else at the table laughed. Over the table she shared a glance with Kirkpatrick and felt him squeeze her knee. He'd been tested, he was still firing on all cylinders plus he had some in storage._

_"Eezo doesn’t do that," Fitsroy scoffed a moment before his eyes widened, "wait does it?"_

_"Not officially." Kerr offered._

Three kids though, Fitsroy had gotten that family he wanted and now they had to live without him. With a shake of her head Shepard opened the pot address and threw in a thousand credits, hoping it might help someone somewhere heal.

She opened up the photos Kerr had attached and her heart did another flop. They'd been on Rylon for a week when these were taken, there was less fight then the Alliance expected and the young crew had grown restless in the silence. Fitsroy had started taking photos and hadn’t stopped until _someone_ hacked his omni and removed the program.

Shepard chuckled as she scrolled through them, just a few, but she was willing to bet Fitsroy had physically printed copies of them somewhere. He was that type of guy.

The last photo, Fitsroy pointing towards an armor-clad couple, 'less then subtle' scribbled over it with red digital ink. She might have been wrong, but she was absolutely sure it was her and Kirkpatrick, his arm slung around her waist. Somehow the two of them were never caught, she knew some people had suspicious but no charges were ever laid. Back then that had been her biggest worry- getting caught screwing her NCO before a pregnancy granted her an honorable discharge.

It was impossible for Shepard to imagine herself as anything but an Alliance Marine let alone a mother.

She shook her head and close the email, she had planned to invite Kaidan to her cabin tonight… but she no longer had the desire.


End file.
